


Waiting for the Hammer to Fall

by Ava_Dakedavra



Series: The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Em and Abbypool [7]
Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: A Bit of Fluff, Alternate Universe, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, chapter two will feature More Angst!, when it comes to tagging Spider-Em stuff i am completely useless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-08-18 22:44:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20199403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ava_Dakedavra/pseuds/Ava_Dakedavra
Summary: Spider-Woman tries to break in and steal a flashdrive from Wilson Fisk, and winds up meeting the Black Cat. And maybe the real black eyes are the friendships we made along the way. Or something to that effect - it's hard to think up witty comebacks when you've got a concussion.





	1. All We Hear is Radio Ga Ga

**Author's Note:**

> This is about Em, a spidersona who became her own character, and the Black Cat - whose inner workings of his mind are an enigma.

It was supposed to be an easy mission. Well, easy-ish. Sneak past security, crawl into the air vents, propel into Fisk’s office, find a flash drive with enough evidence against Fisk to lock him up until her great-grandbabies graduated from college, sneak out to get the drive to the police, celebrate with two dollar tacos from her favorite taco truck before they closed. 

So far, Em had made it to step three without a hitch, and she was about to pick the lock on Fisk’s desk when she noticed that someone was crouched down and beating her to it.

“Can I uh...help you?” The leather clad man with prominent cat ears and a greyscale design asked, obviously amused by her blatant staring.

“You’re in my way,” Spider-Woman insisted, hands on her hips and glaring at him. “Who’re you supposed to be, anyway?”

“Point of the mask, isn’t it?” he answered, already going back to picking the lock and acting almost as if she wasn’t there. “I know who  _ you _ are, Spider-Woman. Gotta say, you aren’t exactly living up to the ‘Friendly’ part of your moniker, and I think we’re a  _ bit _ out of your neighborhood.” 

“I’m only friendly to civilians and friends,” she answered, still glaring down at him. “And you clearly aren’t a civilian.”

He hummed, opening the drawer and standing to his full height, cocking his hip and arching a brow at her. She  _ knew _ she was short, okay? Her best friend (who’d gone AWOL for a bit and still wasn’t returning her calls or texts, but she wasn’t talking about it thanks very much) called her the Itsy Bitsy Spider and it only halfway stung. She could definitely deal without the smugness people tended to throw at her just because they had a few inches on her.

“I could be friendly,” he purred, sliding up beside her and getting in close. He smelled like something soft and earthy, yet she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes at his attempt at distraction, dodging his advances and swooping in to examine the contents of the desk while he was sidetracked. “No thanks, you’ve served your usefulness.” 

“Ouch,” he chuckled, although he hardly seemed offended. “You treat all your partners like that?”

She furrowed her brow, not finding the flash drive immediately, moving knick knacks and files around. “We’re not partners,” she insisted.

He sidled up beside her, peering over her shoulder and said, “We are working together, aren’t we? One common goal - seeing Wilson Fisk behind bars.”

“What’s your gain?” Em asked, pausing as she tried to listen to her spider senses, which were being mysteriously absent.

“What’s yours?” He countered.

“Seeing a criminal behind bars where they rightfully belong is good enough for me,” she answered, groaning when she couldn’t find the damn thing. “Where  _ is _ it?” 

The man pressed into her, pinning her between the desk and himself, and Em got  _ pissed. _ She was about to rear back and elbow him hard enough to break some ribs, intending to leave him in a bloody heap in Fisk’s office, when he plucked something from the underside of the drawer and offered it to her with a healthy dose of personal space on the side. 

“Oh,” she mumbled, feeling her cheeks warm underneath the mask as she grabbed the flashdrive from his offered hand. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, gorgeous,” he insisted. 

She scoffed, narrowing her gaze at him once more. “How do you know I’m gorgeous? I could look like anything under this mask.” 

“Well, are you gorgeous?” he questioned.

“I’m a knockout,” she sniffed primly before feeling her spider sense act up, immediately turning towards the door as it began to open. “ _ Shi- _ ”

“Get  _ down _ ,” the man insisted in a hiss, tugging her into a crouch beside him and cowering below the desk. Em glanced to the ceiling, cursing the open air vent she’d dropped in from. She should’ve gotten the flashdrive, zipped to the air vent, and left the stranger to his own devices. She wasn’t even sure how he’d gotten in, and she didn’t want to stick around and find out. 

“I want guards at every entrance, exit, and air duct,” they heard Fisk demand, and Em looked again to the open one right in the middle of his office. “I want that damn cat  _ found _ .”

She looked to the other masked man, who had his head craned around the side of the desk and his back to her. How the hell did he even get in Fisk’s penthouse office to begin with? So far he had yet to present any special “talents” that might’ve made his costume make sense. He began to edge to the side of the large mahogany desk, while she shook her head and looked past him and to the windows. 

“Sir,” some lackey said, halting Fisk’s further entrance into his office. “Nobody  _ ever _ finds the Black Cat - n-n-not that we won’t try, it’s just - ”

“ _ Find. Him. _ ” Fisk growled, and she watched as the Black Cat’s ears laid back. “I want him dead at my doorstep by morning.” 

Well, now she certainly couldn’t let  _ that _ happen. Fisk wasn’t the type of villain to want his fellow villains dead, so whoever this Black Cat happened to be she decided to give him a hand. 

Fisk’s office door clicked shut, and the lights flicked on, and all hell broke loose. 

Fisk, seeing the air vent open, immediately stormed to the desk, breaking it with his bare fists. 

Em, sensing that this would be imminent, took the extra second to kick Black Cat in the ribs, sending him away from the impact just before she webbed herself to the back wall. 

“Oh, hey, Fisk,” Spider-Woman said, looking to the massive, bald-headed man as he seethed. “Seen any jail cells lately?” 

Fisk roared, picking up half of the desk and chunking it at her, and she braced herself for that impact as it slammed into her. She webbed herself to Fisk himself, propelling herself towards him and slamming her feet into his collarbones before bouncing off. Any regular person would’ve been sent to the hospital, but since when did Spider-Woman ever fight regular people? 

She landed near Black Cat, who’d appeared stunned by the turn of events as he clutched his ribs. She winced - she didn’t think she’d kicked him that hard, but then again she was used to teaming up with a rapid-healing mutant. 

“You alright?” she asked. 

“Watch it!” Black Cat answered, sweeping underneath Fisk’s legs as he charged, unfortunately tripping him at a bad moment that caused a large boulder of a fist to come slamming down right on her eye socket. 

“Mother _ fucker _ ,” she cursed, clutching her skull and hissing, hearing the sounds of many goons rushing down the hall to their boss’s aide. Because of  _ course. _ “That’s gonna leave a shiner, Jesus.” 

“Window!” Black Cat ordered, running towards her and the window in question. 

Spider-Woman ran after him, watching in slight awe as he broke through the glass with his shoulder before entering a straight drop to the open sky below him. She followed with a more graceful dive, watching him sail through the inky night sky to realize that  _ he didn’t have a plan. _

Not wanting to see if the Cat would really land on his feet, she shot a web to his back and yanked, sailing into him and gripping him tight. 

“Oh thank  _ God _ ,” she heard him wheeze, and she was beginning to really worry about his ribs before she began swinging the both of them through the city. 

She brought them to a stop a safe enough distance from Fisk Tower, dropping onto a warehouse roof and letting him drop to his knees. 

“Please tell me you’re okay,” she worried, listening to him gasp for air. 

“That was  _ awesome _ ,” he insisted, dropping onto his back and staring up at her. “You get to do that every time? Wow, you’ve gotta let me borrow that tech sometime.”

She snorted, glad to see that he was cracking jokes, and cocked a hand on her hip, “Fat chance. You get the flash drive?” 

He froze, angling his head towards her, and stared. “I thought you had it.” 

Em patted her suit down, praying she might’ve had the foresight to put it in a pocket, and cursed when she found both pockets empty. “Fucking fuck! Damn it, damn it, damn it!”

“I didn’t think heroes could curse,” Black Cat said in amusement, sitting up and looking perfectly at ease as everything went to shit. 

“Oh, fuck off!” she shouted, watching the masks’ white eyes arch in surprise. She sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose before realizing that that  _ hurt _ . “Sorry, just - I’ve been planning this for over a month, and I’ve got other shit going on in my personal life that’s - Jesus Christ, this is gonna be one hell of a black eye.” 

“I’ll look back into infiltrating Fisk Tower within the month,” he said, finally standing on wobbly, adrenaline-filled legs and clutching his ribs again. “If he’s smart, he’ll get rid of the drive and we’ll have to find something else to pin charges against him. If he’s not, he’ll keep the drive and we’ll just have to redo everything.” 

“I still don’t trust you,” she announced, crossing her arms over her chest and looking up at him. 

He didn’t seem deterred by her statement, because he just cocked his head and narrowed the eyes of his mask - she could imagine a cocky grin in place. “ _ Buuut - ? _ ”

Spider-Woman huffed, and looked up to the sky. “ _ But _ \- seeing as we have this common goal, the only reasonable way to go about it is to work together. Because I’m not about to trust you with this.”

“Likewise,” he chuckled, taking a few steps towards the edge of the roof. “Well, it looks like this is where our night together ends. Unless you’d like to take off the masks and - “

“ _ Bye _ ,” she insisted gruffly, shoulder checking him as she passed, although it only made him laugh. “Check back in two weeks from now, here, 11:30.” 

“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed, and she nodded before she proceeded to swan dive off of the roof before following up with a swing. 

She could hear him as she swung further and further away, cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting “What, I don’t get a lift home?” 

He definitely couldn’t see the smile on her face, and she definitely wouldn’t be telling anyone about it either. 

* * *

Em pried herself from bed with a loud groan, shuffling to the bathroom only to groan again as her suspicions were confirmed. Her eye was swollen, dark, and looked like it was about to start singing Jonas Brothers songs at any moment. She’d grown a sentient being straight from her eye socket, and it was going to go on to become a worldwide celebrity singer. 

Okay, so she might’ve also had a concussion. But she was a college student, and didn’t have healthcare, so she ignored that possibility and got ready for class. 

Walking across campus got her a lot of worried stares, but she waved them all off and made a joke about falling down the stairs. 

She finally made her way to the arts building, climbing up the stairs and stifling a groan at all of her joints protesting. Of course, she’d forgotten having half of a desk thrown at her last night. She retracted her step, and instead wound around to the elevators. 

Someone stepped beside her as she punched the button to call the elevator, glancing to him and recognizing the model for her drawing class. With dark hair and a pretty face, there weren’t many in Em’s class that had escaped having a crush on the young man. He had a great facial structure normally, but that morning his brow was pinched and he had a scowl on his face. In one hand was a large cup of coffee, yet the other was pressed against his chest and rubbing small circles.

“Rough night?” Em asked, because the man looked like the textbook definition of hungover. It wasn’t entirely out of place in college, and he had the easy part for class that day, so she didn’t really hold it against him.

“Something like - Jesus Christ, your  _ eye _ ,” he answered, blinking at her in surprise and full-on gaping. 

“Oh,” she scoffed nonchalantly, flapping a dismissive hand. “You should see the other guy.” 

He looked a bit flabbergasted, so she cracked a smile even though that hurt her face. “It’s a joke. I’m kidding. I just fell down some stairs  _ really hard _ last night.” He continued staring, so she stuck out a hand for him to shake. “I’m Em.” 

“Silas,” he mumbled, taking his hand from his chest and shaking her hand, still staring at her like she’d grown a second head. Which, alright, that was fair. She had a massive black eye, it was worth staring at. “Are you sure you’re okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, releasing their hands and moving for the open elevator. He followed, pressing the correct button for their floor and leaning against the railing as the doors shut. Silas continued staring at her, like he was analyzing her, so Em stood ramrod straight and continued staring at the doors. 

“How’d you fall?” he asked. 

“Oh, I was - uh - carrying something. Wasn’t watching my feet, so I tripped and fell.” 

“What were you carrying?” Silas questioned, narrowing his eyes at her. 

Em narrowed her eyes as well, “A box of art supplies.” 

“What sort of - “

“Sorry, is this the Spanish Inquisition or something?” Em snapped before sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. She hissed and retracted her hand. “Sorry, sorry.”

Silas suddenly softened, practically melting into the wall, and cracked a grin. “Rough night?” 

She scoffed, nodding absently, and admitted, “Rough month, actually. Super rough night.” 

He hummed, regarding her carefully, studying her again. “Want to...talk about it?” 

Em faltered. She obviously couldn’t mention her failed attempt at throwing Wilson Fisk behind bars, meeting the damn Black Cat and trying to figure out what or who’s side he was on, and that her mercenary mutant best friend had skipped town due to a creepy organization hunting her down. “We’ve got class, and I - ”

“After class,” he insisted with a shrug before wincing, rubbing his chest again. “Grab coffee with me.” 

Em tried not to do her fair share of gaping, and found it a bit difficult but did manage to keep her outward surprise to a minimum. It helped that her grapefruit of an eye didn’t let that side emote much. Instead, she pointed to the cup in his hand. “You’ve already got one.” 

He grinned, a slow Cheshire grin that lit up his eyes. She tried not to notice, but it was hard not to. She spent every class period staring at his face and trying to get his eyes right, and she was just now realizing that there was a certain light in it that other people just didn’t have. It kind of scared her, but less in a way she was used to most days. This made her think of high school. It made her think of Ben. 

“Everyone could always use more coffee,” Silas pointed out, ruining her train of thought and taking her mind off of sadder things. 

“I dunno…” Em hedged, stepping out of the open elevator and letting him follow. 

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I find coffee and conversation between friends a great way to get over a rough night,” he said, halting them in the middle of the hallway to continue their conversation. It was smart - she’d been planning on running into the classroom so the conversation could end. 

She paused. Since Abby had taken off with a left-behind note and nary an explanation, Em had been back to square one in the friend department. Square one, obviously, being alone and with no one to talk to day in and day out. And, well, she needed to unpack a whole mess of things before she went on any dates, but this was fine. She could handle being friends. 

“Well, I don’t have a class after this one for a few hours…” she ignored the fact that she’d wanted to go back to her dorm and pop a few ibuprofen and try to sleep the pain away. “Coffee sounds good.”

Silas grinned again, nodding and making his way towards the changing room for models, “Great. See you in class, Em.” 

Em nodded in return, scuttling into the classroom and having to repeat the story of her graceless fall off the stairs to the rest of her classmates. 

Throughout class, Silas had positioned himself to continuously face her, which was lowkey annoying because she still had no idea how to draw his eyes. Most days, he would stare off into the distance, never landing on anybody for too long before his attention would drift off again. Today, however, he was focusing on her, watching her draw and studying her. By the time class had ended, she was ready to punch him, but that was something only Spider-Woman would do and could get away with. 

Once class was over, she was ready to scream. Instead, she smiled up at Silas and nodded when he asked if she was ready to go. 

Settled at a small, homey cafe table with the largest coffee she could find in hand, Em felt her need to scream and punch things dwindle. 

“So, tell me about yourself,” Silas prompted once he was seated across from her, his own equally large coffee by his side. 

“Well, I’m an art major,” Em answered. It was an easy topic, safe to talk about. Common ground - she could handle school. “You?” 

“Business, currently,” he said with a blinding grin, as if it were a punchline to a joke he hadn’t told yet. “I change it quite a bit.” 

“Sounds fun,” she said, even though she had certain opinions of people who did big business. One had given her a black eye and thrown a desk at her just last night. 

“Not as fun as you would think,” he scoffed, taking a sip before moving on without missing a beat. “So - what brought you to New York?”

Em quirked a brow, “How do you know I’m not from here?” 

Silas settled in his seat, leaning across the table with his elbows splayed out. He looked like a cat taking a nap in a patch of sun, he was so comfortable as he grinned lazily up at her. “You have a very distinct non-accent. It means you’re trying to lose the old one, and haven’t lived anywhere long enough to acquire a new one.” 

Em chewed the inside of her lip - she hadn’t known that about herself. She’d have to pay attention to how native New Yorkers talked and try to fix it. 

“It’s fine, by the way,” Silas said, sliding back to press against the back of his chair, still grinning, “It’s cute.” 

At this she snorted, hiding the roll of her eyes as she turned her head to look out of the window, sipping at her coffee and nearly sighing once it hit her soul. “Well, what about you? You have a very distinct non-accent yourself.” 

He shrugged, gliding his hand through his hair as he looked around, “Moved around a lot as a kid. New York is the longest I’ve ever stayed somewhere.” 

“I’d like to travel,” Em said, still looking out the windows up at all of the skyscrapers, thinking of all of the people who needed her every day. Well - all of the people who needed Spider-Woman, anyway. “One day.” 

“It’s...nice, in a way,” Silas decided, staring out of the window with her. “When it’s your idea.” 

She conceded the point to him, and resumed their conversation. 

It became a new normal, between them. After the drawing class, they’d go out to coffee together until Em’s next class - or if there was an emergency that needed a web slinger. It turned into grabbing dinner at the cafeteria together so they wouldn’t have to sit alone, or making a midnight convenience store run, or a late evening where Silas would grumble about a last minute paper and Em would struggle to finish an art piece in time. For the first time since Abby had left, Em had a friend.

Meanwhile, the Black Cat and Spider-Woman had done more digging into Fisk. According to the Black Cat’s source (“It’s me,” he informed, “I’m the only source I trust.”) Fisk had yet to destroy the flash drive or any of the information on it, but he had definitely hidden it in a secure location. 

“Like it was so easy to find last time,” Spider-Woman sighed, hands on her hips and staring out at the flickering lights of Manhattan. “Alright, so step one is figure out where he’s hiding it. Step two is figure out how to get to it.” 

“You make it sound so easy,” Black Cat scoffed, coming up to stand by her side. 

“No matter where he’s got it hidden, he’ll have a ton of guards,” she hummed, tapping a knuckle to her chin in thought. 

“Why don’t you call up your merc friend and have her handle them?” he asked, unaware that Em had gone frozen at the mention of Abby. “Word on the street is that Deadpool is basically immortal anyway.” 

“Doesn’t mean I like seeing my friend die,” Spider-Woman snapped, sighing as he held up his hands in appeasement and took a step back. “Besides, she’s...AWOL. I can’t get a hold of her.” 

Black Cat huffed as well, crossing his arms over his chest and staring out at the city, “Then it’s just us.” 

She nodded, chewing her bottom lip as she wondered just what had happened to her friend anyway. 

Black Cat sighed, stretching his arms over his head, and groaned. “Go home, get some rest - we’ll come at this again in a few days.” 

“Sounds like the only plan we’ve got right now,” Spider-Woman shrugged, shooting a web and getting ready to swing away before a hand clasped her other wrist. 

“Hey, do you…” Black Cat paused, the white eyes of his mask portraying nothing as hers did the same. “Do you have any friends you can talk to?” 

“About Spider stuff?” she scoffed, nearly snorting in amusement, and shook her head, “No. Why? Wanna be pen pals?” 

“I just...you seem like you’re not the type who likes to bottle things up, is all,” he said with a shrug, releasing her wrist and stepping away. “If the merc with the mouth is AWOL, then I imagine you’re low on friends.” 

Em stopped, thinking back to the chain of memes that Silas had been spamming her with that afternoon as he sat in his history class, and found herself smiling beneath the mask. “Nah, I’ve got one.” She tugged on the web, taking one step off of the ledge, and nodded to the masked man. “See ya later, kitty cat.” 

“See ya, webhead,” he responded, waving over his shoulder as he turned to leave and she dropped off of the building. 

Em barely crawled through her dorm window before her phone went off, a series of buzzes that grabbed her attention. 

“Hello?” she asked, tugging off the mask as she brought the device to her ear. 

“Hey,” Silas answered on the other end.

“Hey,” Em echoed, her brows furrowing as she glanced to the clock on her desk. It was nearly two in the morning. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” 

“What?” he asked in amusement, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just...couldn’t sleep. Wanted some company. Are you at your dorm?” 

“Yeah,” she said, already zipping out of the suit and stashing it under her mattress, diving for a clean t-shirt. “Uhh - I’m in McGuire Hall, seventh floor.” 

“Cool, I’m already in the lobby,” he answered, and she could hear his footsteps on the echoey stairs. 

“I-I’ll buzz you in, just - uhh - gimme a minute,” she said, panicking as she tried to find pants. 

“No rush,” he chuckled, just missing her quiet shout of victory as she found a pair of gym shorts. “I’ll be right outside the door.” 

“Great, I’ll be right there,” she promised, ending the call and grabbing her key card. 

Em held her breath as she crept down the hallway, ghosting past the door of her RA’s room and slipping to the key swipe at the end of the hall. She cupped the speaker to muffle the beep as she swiped the card, toeing the door open so Silas could catch it with his hand. 

“I brought food,” he whispered, holding up the plastic bag that smelled delicious. 

“Good man,” Em whispered back, letting him slide quietly in before they worked together to shut the door. She silently motioned for him to follow her, and they crept down the hall, past the RA’s door once more, and made it safely into her dorm. 

“This your first time sneaking a boy into your dorm?” Silas teased, grinning at her light scoff as he went about setting the food onto the spare desk in the room. 

“That’s for me to know, and you to never find out,” she quipped, although it definitely was. But he didn’t need to know that. 

“Ooh, look who’s got her sassy pants on tonight,” he laughed, sitting down in the unused desk chair and propping his feet up, already eating out of a takeaway carton as Em rolled over her own desk chair. She grabbed another takeaway container, nearly beaming when she saw orange chicken, and eagerly dug in. 

“So,” she began once they’d eaten in silence for a few moments, “Not that I’m not thrilled by your presence, or that of free food, but I  _ am _ curious as to what you’re doing here at 2 am.” 

“You let me in,” he muffled around a mouthful of noodles, chuckling at her unamused stare. “I dunno,” he said once he swallowed, shrugging and leaning back in his seat. “I just...didn’t want to be alone tonight.” 

Em regarded her new friend. He seemed more worn and tired, like the weight of something was sitting on his shoulders, and like he just needed an escape for an hour or two to get his mind off of it. “Do you...wanna talk about it?” she asked. 

Silas chewed on the inside of his cheek, staring into the carton of lo mein as if it would give him answers. “You first,” he insisted. 

Em sighed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering what she could say that wouldn’t be too telling. “Alright…” She looked into her own carton of food, finding that it didn’t have any more answers than the lo mein did, and sighed. “My friend Abby, she kind of...I don’t want to say that she ditched me, but that’s what it feels like.” 

“Do you know why?” Silas questioned with a blink. 

“I’m sure it’s something important,” she admitted, and wound up losing her appetite, “It’s been eating at me a lot lately, because I’m not entirely sure  _ what’s _ going on, but….” 

“Still hurts?” he asked. 

Em nodded. 

“My...dad…kind of did the same,” Silas said, looking like he had a bad taste in his mouth even mentioning him, “Growing up. But he did it alot. And that made it...not okay. But your friend, this Abby…I’m sure this is gonna be a one time thing, and she’s gonna be sorry she even did it in the first place.” 

Em blinked, staring back at him, at a loss. “How do you know?” she murmured. 

He shrugged, still digging through the noodles, although he seemed to have lost his appetite as well. “You don’t pick bad people for friends,” he said with a sad quirk of his lips, like he knew something she didn’t. 

Not liking the look on his face, she reached across the space and gripped his knee, the closest body part of his that wouldn’t be weird for her to grab, and surprised him into looking up at her. 

“No, I don’t,” she insisted with a smile. 

Silas weakly returned it, and it seemed that a little of the weight had left his shoulders. Then he took a big breath, and steeled himself, and looked up at her. “I’ve been interning at Fisk Tower for nearly a month. I think… I dunno, Em, but something’s  _ wrong _ .” 

Em felt her heart plummet to her stomach and could do nothing but watch as Silas sat his carton on the desk and wheeled closer to her, their knees nearly touching. 

“There’s guards  _ everywhere _ ,” he insisted in a whisper, as if he were afraid someone else would hear. “Every hallway, every office, they do hourly walk throughs. They even check the bathrooms. Why would there be that many guards there?” 

“Silas, listen to me,” Em whispered, setting aside her food to grip his hands and look up at him, trying to will him to understand just how much danger he was in, “You need to quit that job. You need to quit that job immediately, okay? It’s not safe.” 

“What do you know?” Silas wondered, blinking back at her. 

“Wilson Fisk is...he’s a bad man, okay?” she insisted. “He’s a dangerous, bad man, and you don’t want to be caught working with him.” 

Silas nodded slowly, trying to calm his breathing, and looked back at her, “I’ll quit tomorrow. Will you come in and check on me?” 

Em nodded, already thinking of using it as a cover to sneak in and get that stupid flash drive, if only she knew where Fisk had hidden it. “You...wouldn’t happen to know where the most guards are, would you?” she questioned, flashing a nervous smile at his curious look. “So I know not to wander off there.” 

“There’s a lot at this random door on the eleventh floor,” Silas said, pursing his lips, “I don’t know what’s so important about that door, but only Fisk and a handful of scientists go into that room.”

She hummed, making a mental note to get a message to Black Cat and inform him of the plan in the morning, when Silas grabbed her hand. She watched as he stared into her palm, tracing the lines of it tentatively. 

“Can I ask you something?” he asked, his brows furrowing in thought. 

“You just did,” she teased, smiling when he shot her a playful glare. “Yes,” she softly corrected. 

“Why did you move to New York?” he asked in a hush. 

Em looked into his eyes, looking at the light sparkling there, making a note of the myriad of colors laced into his irises, felt the warmth of his hands as his fingers traced her own, felt the way her heart sped up and her stomach jumped to her throat whenever her eyes just happened to land on his mouth, and before she knew it she was talking about the very thing she did not want to talk about. 

“I-it was...two years ago...I lived in a very, very small town. I...we…” She cleared her throat, blinking back tears, and gave the tiniest smile when Silas squeezed her hand in support. “I...Ben, his name is...was...Ben.” 

Silas stayed silent, his attentive gaze and quiet support all she needed. 

“Benjamin Parker,” she continued, watching his hands against her own. “W-was the best thing that ever, ever happened to me.” 

“What happened to him?” Silas questioned. 

Em sniffled, knowing that tears were rolling down her cheeks, yet made no move to wipe them away. They needed to be there for this conversation. “He was killed. In front of me. I - I held him while he died.” 

Silas’s hands clamped over her one in a vice, and his face contorted into pain, his own eyes glistening. He opened his mouth to say something, no doubt words of comfort, when she talked over him. 

“The love of my life, and I watched him die,” she cried, smiling back at Silas as he watched her. “I’ve never told anyone, not since I came here.” 

“I shouldn’t have asked,” he insisted, his brows clouding his eyes, “Did they ever catch the guy who - ?”

“No,” Em answered, dabbing at her eyes with the pad of her thumb as she sniffed once more. “The police were worried he’d come back and try to finish me off, because I’m the only witness who got a good look at him, but - “ she gave a watery laugh, flashing a grin even as more tears streamed down her face, “ - I’d like to see him try.” 

“Jesus Christ, Em, I’m so - ”

“Don’t tell me you’re sorry,” she said, gripping his hands tight in an effort to silence him. “I didn’t tell you so you would be sorry for me.” 

Silas blinked, smoothing his thumb over the back of her hand, and the small action nearly made her cry all over again. “Then...why did you tell me?” 

Em looked at the lines of his face, the slopes and planes and the softness, looked at the messy hair and strong jaw and furrowed brows, and quirked a smile at it all. She took her free hand, brushing the hair away from his brow, and found it settled at his jaw, her thumb gliding along the short stubble that resided there as he drew in a breath and held it. 

“So you would understand,” she said, taking a breath and retracting both of her hands from his space, settling them in her lap and breathing a bit of renewed distance between them. 

Silas regarded the change, nodding as he put in just an extra bit of distance, yet he continued to lean towards her, looking like he wanted nothing more than to reclaim her hand. “I do,” he said, still studying her. “Take your time - I’ll still be here.” 

It startled a laugh out of her, and she blinked back more tears. “Ugh, would you look at me?” she asked, swiping her hands down her face and using the collar of her shirt to wipe tear tracks off of her jaw. 

“I am,” Silas said, his teasing returning full throttle. “You look gorgeous,” he flirted, throwing in a wink to show that he was kidding. Mostly. Unless she was okay with it. 

She snorted, standing to find something to wipe her face, “Oh yeah, I’m a knockout.” She paused, wondering why that felt like deja vu, and turned to see Silas holding a napkin out to her. 

“Well, at least you don’t look like you were knocked out,” he grinned, watching as she cleaned her face before he nodded to the unused bed. “Any way I can crash here?” 

“Yeah, let me grab you some blankets and a pillow,” Em said, already moving to the drawer where she kept them as he went about cleaning up, the conversation tidied up and set aside for later. 

Silas drifted off silently, his quiet and steady breathing the only thing she could hear across the room, the noises of the city a whisper in comparison as Em stared up at her ceiling, afraid of whatever was to come.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spider-Woman breaks in to Fisk Tower, Silas gets a bruised jaw, and Em decides that black eyes are better than friends.

Walking into the front lobby of Fisk Tower, dressed in a pretty floral dress and flats with the Spider-Woman suit in her backpack was, oddly enough, not the strangest thing Em had ever had to do for a mission. 

She’d made it all the way to the front desk undetected, and flashed a sweet smile at the attendant that she quickly returned. 

“Hi, I’m looking for my friend, Silas,” she said, blanching a tiniest bit when she realized that she didn’t know her new friend’s last name, but the woman nodded and waved her on to the seventh floor with a visitor’s pass and a plea to have a nice day. 

Em stood in the elevator, looking around as if she were checking out the swankiness of the place, when she noticed a myriad of security cameras. She looked down to her phone, and saw an instant message from Black Cat on the secure server they’d been using. 

** _BC: _ ** _ Be there in five. You there? _

Em typed a response, stowing her phone away in her backpack’s pocket, stepping through the elevator and looking around at the offices surrounding the large waiting room. 

Silas stepped out of one with a handful of files, his brow furrowed as he checked his pocket before looking up and seeing her. He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as Em smiled and waved, making his way over to her. 

“Thank you for coming,” he said, standing before her and blinking at her attire. “What’s with the dress?” 

Em shrugged, feeling a flush creep up the back of her neck, “Thought I’d have to do some flirting to get up here, but they seem pretty lax on visitors so now I just feel silly.”

Silas grinned, still appraising the dress, “Well, it’s not like they can just turn friends and family away, but I’m not exactly hating the get up.” 

Em gave a nervous laugh, pointing to the files in his grasp, “What’s that?” 

He patted them, giving a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “Last bit of paperwork, says I’m done with the company, plus some legal jargon about some other stuff. I just need to hunt down a guy and pass this off, and I’ll be good to go.” 

“Alright,” Em nodded, halting him before he could wander off, “Hey, uhh, point me to the ladies' room? I think I’m gonna change.” Into a spider themed spandex suit so she could climb through some air vents, but hey, he didn’t need to know that. 

“Ahh, that hall, third door on the left,” he answered, starting off down another hallway, “I’ll meet you back here when I’m done!” 

Em smiled, slipped into the ladies room and found an empty stall. Used to maneuvering into the suit in close quarters, she stuffed her dress and flats back into her backpack, zipped up to the air vent, and webbed her stuff to the other side of the vent door. 

Twisting her hand through the web and into the pocket of her backpack, she sent a text to Black Cat before army crawling through the ducts. 

“Well, well, well,” his voice echoed through, making her halt and look up to see him standing in a larger opening of the duct up ahead, bending to peer at her. “Fancy meeting you here.” 

Spider-Woman snorted, twisting through and standing beside him so they were chest to chest in the tight space. “Let’s go and get this over with, I don’t have much time.” 

“Ladies first,” he beckoned, motioning upwards. 

Em sighed, gripped him close and propelled them up to the proper floor, letting him snake through and lead the way. 

They were silent as they worked together, creeping through the ducts and listening for any signs of trouble up ahead. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any, and Em’s spidey sense was only at a dull murmur - normal for a risky mission. 

“I think this is it,” Black Cat whispered, scooting over enough that she could slip beside him. He laid on his side, propping his head up with his fist and bringing a finger to where his mouth would be in a plea to stay silent. 

Em peered between the cracks of the vent, staring down into the room. She looked searchingly at Black Cat, but he seemed just as confused as she did.

“It’s empty,” she murmured, and he gave a hum of agreement. “No shelves, no tables, no chairs. Not even a lamp.” 

“Makes me scared to go down there,” he admitted. 

Em nodded, putting her hand over the vent and waiting. When the hair on the back of her neck and arms remained where it was, she quietly pushed the vent open and shot a web to the floor, ready to slam the vent shut at a moment’s notice. 

“Nothing,” Black Cat huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, “Why would they have guards stationed outside of this room if there’s nothing here?” 

Em hummed, shutting the vent and tapping her fingers to her chin. “A decoy, I guess, but why? It’s not like we would notice.” 

Black Cat inhaled sharply, the eyes of his mask widening, “He knows he’s got a mole.” 

Em gasped, hissing out “Silas” in her panic, before shaking her head. He was safe, he was quitting, but that would just paint more of a target on his back. “Cat, we can’t do this today.” 

“But we’re already here,” he pleaded, although it sounded half-hearted. 

“I know, but - we don’t know any more than we did before,” she insisted, ready to turn around and crawl back the way they’d came. 

“But my source - it - today’s our last chance,” he said, gripping her forearm and squeezing, halting her. 

“Your source?” Em blinked, turning and staring at him before the room beneath them illuminated, quieting them as they turned to watch Wilson Fisk enter the room. 

He took slow, careful steps in, regarding the walls and the ceiling. Em held her breath as he neared the web on the floor, yet he didn’t seem to notice it. 

Satisfied that he appeared to be alone, he pressed a button on his watch. The walls opened up, computers and screens folding out, complete with building blueprints, locations of known and unknown gang hideouts, and criminal backgrounds. Not a decoy room, then.

Fisk gripped a remote in his big, beefy hand, clicking through the various rap sheets and mug shots. There was the Vulture, the Rhino, crime bosses both major and minor, many of whom Em had already fought and sent packing. 

He faltered on the profile of Spider-Woman, a picture of her swinging through Times Square courtesy of the Daily Bugle. She was relieved to note that there was not much known about her, other than ‘Abilities: super strength, web shooters, can climb walls. Annoying.’ She nearly smiled.

He clicked over a few more, however, landing on that of the Black Cat. Her air duct companion inhaled sharply.

‘Abilities: martial arts expert, gymnast. Heightened strength, agility, balance and vision.’

Beneath, however, made her blood boil. 

‘Expert burglar. Loyalties may be easily swayed.’ 

Em dug her nails into his side just for something to do with her hands, gritting her teeth as she heard him hiss in pain. 

“You’re a - ?!” she began, glaring, before he pressed his hand over her mouth. 

“Shut. Up,” he growled, low and in her ear. “Look.” 

Fisk thumbed the remote, regarding Black Cat’s page for a moment or two more. 

“He’s got a file on every criminal in New York,” Black Cat murmured, watching together as he flicked through more. His hand stayed pressed over her mouth. “Even if we can’t take him down, we’ll get nearly a dozen mob bosses in jail before dinner.”

“Even you,” she spat, ripping his hand away from her and glaring. 

“They’ll have to catch me first,” he nearly purred, and she wanted to punch him just for that. 

“Add new file,” Fisk commanded beneath them, speaking into the remote like a microphone. “Silas Hardy.” 

Em clutched the grates of the vent, ready to swing through and start kicking, but Black Cat wrapped his arms around her and pinned her between himself and the air duct. Thankfully, their struggle was silent, as Fisk was none the wiser.

“Age - twenty, occupation - former employee of Fisk Enterprises,” Kingpin continued, pacing as he spoke. He paused, waiting for the computer to type in his command. “Possible mole. Unsure for who.”

“Shit,” Black Cat sighed in her ear, spiking her interest. 

“Must keep under surveillance for the time being,” he added, before humming thoughtfully, “Kid steps outta line I can always just - ” Fisk stopped, as he’d just stepped into the web Em had shot to the floor. 

Em slipped out from under Black Cat’s arms, out of the vent and into the room in record time, webbing the remote to the screen just behind Fisk and securing his feet to the floor. 

“Game’s over, Kingpin,” Em growled, her hands clenching into fists, “Hand over your files.” 

Fisk sneered, already trying to rip his way free from the webs. A couple of seconds and he’d be running towards her. He opened his mouth to say something, yet a black mass had landed on him and bounced off before he could get a word out. 

“Be mad at me later,” Black Cat insisted, his hands unsheathing into claws as he stood beside Spider-Woman. “Right now - help me.” 

Em sighed, because she knew that she had to, and stepped beside him. “I’ve got Fisk. You get the files.” She glared at him out of the corner of her eye, not that he could tell. “_ Burglar _,” she spat. 

“Says the woman who does B-n-E’s on a Wednesday afternoon,” he quipped, diving for the computers as Fisk roared, charging towards him. 

Em shot a web at the wall across from her, effectively clotheslining Kingpin and sending him to the wall opposite the computers. She kept her mouth shut on the B-n-E retort, as she’d gotten a visitor’s pass and everything, thanks very much. 

She kept herself busy and bought Black Cat some time by trying to web Fisk to the wall, which should’ve been said and done but he kept tearing through her webs just as fast as she could get them out. 

“I’m surprised,” Fisk announced, “To see New York’s hero working with a petty criminal.” 

“Hey, hey,” Black Cat snapped irritably over his shoulder, “I may be petty, and I may be a criminal, but I’m not just a petty criminal.” 

“Listen, it’s news to me,” Spider-Woman retorted coldly, before huffing, “Also, shut up.” She sent a web at Fisk’s mouth, effectively silencing him as he was too busy trying to free his hands and feet. With a few more layers of webs, Fisk was finally webbed to the wall, although probably not for long.

“Alright, files are on this, his system’s been wiped,” Black Cat announced, holding up a flash drive in the shape of a cat head. Em glared at it. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I can’t believe you!” she shouted, shooting webs at the door to seal them in. “I _ trusted _ you!” 

Fisk made a noise, as though he’d tried to laugh beneath the webs, and she shot him a glare for it. 

Black Cat sighed, looking up for some guidance, or maybe looking at the air vent and wishing they were inside it right now. The door thudded with the force of someone trying to knock through. “Listen, you can be pissed and yell at me all you want, but _ later _. We need to go.” 

Em growled, gripping him to her and sending them through the vents again, shoving him aside as soon as she could and crawling through. “I want the drive,” she grumbled, blinking when said flashdrive skittered through her limbs just in front of her face. 

“I trust you,” he said from behind her, as if it weren’t a loaded statement. 

They made it out of the vents, Em dropping back into her bathroom stall and Black Cat disappearing to who knows where. She’d just managed to change into leggings and a spare t-shirt when alarms began to go off, people shouting down the hallway. 

Em stepped out of the bathroom and watched as some business people marched down the hall, others taking refuge in their offices and under desks. She ran back to the seventh floor’s waiting area to see Silas, hurrying down the hall he’d disappeared to. 

“Silas!” she shouted, confusion written all over her face. “What’s going on?” 

His mouth set into a grim line and he gripped her arm, tugging her into a utilities closet with him and shutting the door. “There’s - I dunno, some kind of emergency,” he tried to answer, pressing his ear against the door. “You’re okay, right?” he asked, like it’d been an afterthought. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered, moving to his side and pressing against the wood, listening to the footsteps and the shouting and the alarms blaring. “How’re we going to get out of here?” 

He hummed, crossing his arms over his chest and pressing his side against the door, still listening as he thought. The pose struck a chord with her, and she found herself staring at him. “Could just walk through, play dumb, try to get out,” he said before frowning, “But that’s not a great plan.” 

“If we try to sneak out now, that may make us look suspicious,” Em pointed out, readjusting her backpack and making sure the cat head flash drive was securely on her keyring. It was. She tried not to be pissed when she thought about it. “I think our best bet - as crazy as it may sound - is to just wait here until it’s over.” 

Silas sighed, nodding as he relaxed against the wall. “So - how’s your day going?” he asked cheekily, shooting her a sly grin as she rolled her eyes and tugged off her backpack. 

“Peachy,” she replied, digging through for her tablet and her keyring. “You?”

“I’ve had better,” he answered, watching her attach the flash drive to the tablet in silence. He let her flick through the files for a few moments before clearing his throat. “Uhh - what’re you doing?” 

Em hummed, lying casually, “Just some homework. I’ve got a feeling we’re going to be here for a bit.” 

He hummed in response, unaware that she’d just found his newly created file. Just as quickly as it’d been created, it was deleted. Em breathed a little easier knowing that Silas wouldn’t have as much of a connection to Fisk when she handed the files over to the police. Maybe, when Fisk got out of prison, he’d forget all about Silas. She set about the task of copying those files onto her tablet, one that she specifically only used for Spider-Woman stuff. 

“Silas,” Em said as the files were copying over, looking up to find that he was watching her with a guarded expression on his face. “Were you...why’d you take this job in the first place?” 

Silas thought about it, chewing it over for a moment before he flashed a grin that didn’t reach his eyes, “Thought it’d look good on my resume. I think I’ll be leaving this one off, though.” 

She hummed, regarding him for a moment more before she settled the tablet back into her bag and zipped it up. “You know...you almost had me,” she said, quirking a sad smile as he shot her a confused look. “I thought maybe you weren’t a mole, but...then again, you are the only source you trust.” 

Silas froze, staring at her with wide eyes, his mouth open and moving yet no sound came out. 

Em felt tears brimming, yet blinked them away. She wasn’t about to cry in front of him again. “You _ lied _ to me, you _ used _ me, you abused our friendship and my trust,” she hissed, glaring up at him. 

“I never lied to you,” Silas whispered, nearly pleading. “I didn’t - I didn’t know, not at first, not for sure.” 

“What the hell does that mean?” she asked, volume rising, before he pressed his hand against her mouth once more as he shushed her. She smacked it away, seething, as he winced and backed away. 

“I - you had a black eye, right where Spider-Woman would’ve had one, and you were cursing like Spider-Woman had the night before, so I - I did think, yes, at first, that if you _ were _ her then I could - I don’t know,” Silas insisted, combing his hands through his hair haphazardly, making them fall out of place and brush along his face. “That I could see how much you knew about Black Cat. But then we - we became friends, Em, and that meant so much to me. I realized I didn’t want to lose that if you were Spider-Woman, so I rushed this mission to get it over with and I would’ve kept playing dumb but - well - I should’ve had a better plan.” 

“That’s your only regret?” she asked, clenching her hands into fists and unclenching him. “Not - not anything else?” 

“No, wait, no - yes, I regret the attempt to use you, but you never gave me anything to use!” he said, gesturing wildly now. “The most I got out of you was that Deadpool was AWOL and what happened with Ben - ”

“Don’t _ fucking _ mention Ben,” she snapped, tears streaming immediately, “You don’t get the right to mention Ben, not to me, not _ ever. _”

Silas held up his hands placatingly, as if he were showing that he was defenseless. “Alright,” he tried to soothe, speaking in hushed tones, “I won’t, not ever again. Not unless you want to.” 

“I don’t - not with you, not again, you don’t get to know _ anything _ about me ever again,” she hissed, gritting her teeth and swiping tears away. “What gave me away?” 

She’d switched gears so fast, that he was blinking in his attempt to catch up. “What?” 

“What gave me away?” she repeated, crossing her arms over her chest. “As Spider-Woman?” 

Silas seemed to deflate, sighing and hanging his head in defeat. Outside, the alarms had stopped blaring, and the running footsteps had slowed to subdued marching. “The flash drive.”

Em bristled, ready for another round of shouting, when the door to the closet opened. 

“Excuse me, kids, but - ” the security officer stopped, blinking at Em’s tear stained face as she tried to hide it and wipe the evidence away. “Miss, you okay?” 

“Peachy,” she lied brightly, sniffling as she grabbed her bag. “Can I go home?” 

“Yes,” he said slowly, allowing her to pass through the door roughly. “Is everything alright?” 

“Oh, it’s fine,” she said, giving a bitter laugh as she marched to the elevator. “We just broke up!” 

Silas made a choking noise and the security guard tried to suppress a small gasp. “Em, wait, let’s just talk about this,” Silas insisted. 

“I don’t _ want _ to talk to you,” she responded, punching the button to call the elevator and huffing when she had to wait. Silas easily caught up with her, reaching out to touch her until she shied from him. He retracted his hand, letting it fall lamely to his side.

“Dave?” someone asked from the lobby, “Everything alright?” 

The security guard faltered, looking towards them as the elevator doors opened, some stepping out. “Yeah, everything’s clear,” Dave answered. 

Em slipped between business people into the crowded elevator, leaving Silas hanging for another lift as the doors shut between them. 

Em marched out of Fisk Towers, clutching her backpack and stomping down the sidewalk like it’d been the one to personally offend her. 

If she were anyone else, she would’ve screamed when someone grabbed her and towed her into a dark alley. Given that she was Spider-Woman, she instead took her elbow and jammed it into her assailant’s jaw with all of the superhuman force she could muster. Knowing who her assailant was and that he could take it meant that she didn’t hold back. 

“_ Motherfucking fuck, _ ” Silas’s voice said, coming out of Black Cat’s mask as he released her and clutched his jaw, bending over and hissing. “Woman, that _ hurt _!” 

“Good!” she said, glaring nastily at him. “So, let me get this straight - you see me with a black eye, think ‘hey, let’s befriend this girl to see what she knows about me on the off chance she’s a superhero!’ and spend a _ month _ doing just that, get me to tell you all about _ me _, trick me into thinking we’re actually friends, just to cover that you’re using me!” 

“That’s not - _ oww _,” he tried to explain, still clutching at his jaw. 

“But wait! There’s more!” she shouted, “Not only did you trick me into thinking we’re friends, you trick me into thinking - thinking - arrgh!!” She clutched her head, feeling it pounding as her blood pulsed. “We got coffee every Tuesday and Thursday after class! We studied and hung out and sent memes! I snuck you into my _ dorm _ !” Here’s where the hot tears came back in full force. “You told me about your dad leaving you behind as a kid and I told you about Abby not being here and I told you about my boyfriend getting murdered right in front of me - how I held him as he died - and then you slept across the room from me! All because you _ thought _ I was Spider-Woman! What would you have done if you’d known?!”

“I don’t know!” he shouted back, and he surprised her by ripping the mask off, his own tears streaming down his face with a large red mark on his jaw where she’d hit him. She wasn’t sure what he was crying over. “I don’t know, okay?!” he repeated, sounding broken and lost and confused. “I knew Fisk had a file on me as Black Cat, and I knew Spider-Woman would be the best bet at him losing that file. I knew that you were the best artist in your class, and I knew that you suddenly showed up with a black eye and sore muscles the day after I met Spider-Woman.” 

Silas stepped closer, the mask clenched in his fist, and he blinked back more tears. “I know you like vanilla iced lattes with extra vanilla, and you’re so, _ so _ weird about the extra vanilla part,” he said, and Em found herself squeezing her bag tighter to her chest. “I know you like John Mulaney references and pictures of dogs getting stuck in random places they shouldn’t be. I know you like walking through Central Park on warm days and taking the subway on cold ones.” 

He stepped closer, gripping her arms and looking pleadingly at her, “I know you keep an extra set of blankets and pillows in your dorm, even though you don’t need to. I know you’re willing to be with a friend when they’re scared or just don’t want to be alone. I know you’re a damn good person, who just wants to help and look out for other people, and that you trusted me - both sides of me - without really knowing me.” 

“And look where that got me,” she spat, wondering why she wasn’t pulling away. 

“I knew all of that before I knew you were Spider-Woman,” he said, pressing his forehead to hers and taking a deep breath as he let his eyes close, “And I know that whatever you have to do, that it’s gonna be the right thing.” 

Em let her eyes close, took a shuddering breath to hold it, hold that moment for a few more seconds before she gently tore herself away. She turned, facing back towards the street, and tugged her backpack on the right way. “I’m going to turn the files over to the police,” she announced, staring straight out at the traffic jam, the skyscrapers, and all of the people mingling in between. “I deleted the one on Silas Hardy.” She heard him make a choking sound again, yet continued. “Black Cat is a different file, and it’s going to stay that way.” 

She made it a few steps before turning, appraising her friend, Silas, wearing the Black Cat’s suit and watching her with rapt attention. “I…” she faltered, her lips pursing, “I don’t know about this.” She gestured between them, “I don’t know if I want this.” 

Silas breathed, nodding, being careful to pull the mask back on as he softly said, “Take your time - I’ll still be here.” 

Em nodded, stepping out onto the sidewalk and walking away. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a dark figure leap onto the rooftops and go the opposite direction. 

It was a warm day. She decided to walk through Central Park and try to clear her head.

Spider-Woman handed over the files to the police, and Wilson Fisk was one of several to head to prison that night. Black Cat hadn’t been found. 

When Em went to class the next day, several people were asking Silas what had happened to his jaw to have made such a large and nasty bruise appear. He’d laughed it off, saying he’d fallen while going up the stairs, and nobody please draw it in their sketches during the session. 

The entire class, he watched Em draw. They did not get coffee together afterwards that day, or the next class, or any of the remaining classes for the semester. Em got outstanding grades during finals, studying by herself and having no distractions other than her crime stopping adventures. 

Upon reflection, black eyes hurt far less than the pain of losing a friend, whether it be by betrayal or them simply disappearing, and came to the decision that Em would rather take a million black eyes than have to go through it again.

So Em, and therefore Spider-Woman, came to the decision that maybe friends weren't such a good idea after all.


End file.
